


slipping through my fingers all the time

by umbrellawarriors



Category: Timeless (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Time Travel, Because that's what this is, F/M, Gen, are mamma mia au's a thing?, basically i've been watching too much mamma mia and this happened, i guess
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-28
Updated: 2018-05-28
Packaged: 2019-05-14 16:54:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14773505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/umbrellawarriors/pseuds/umbrellawarriors
Summary: Lucy should be as happy as she's ever been - she lives on a beautiful island with her moms, Denise and Michelle, and her brother Rufus, she works in a field that she loves, and she's getting married in three days to her amazing fiance, Noah. There's just one issue: she found some old forms with the names of her birth parents and impulsively invited them to the wedding. And she hasn't told anybody. Throw in her ex suddenly resurfacing and her brother's relationship drama, and - mamma mia! (that's right - a mamma mia AU no one asked for).





	slipping through my fingers all the time

**Author's Note:**

> this is entirely a result of me, listening to the mamma mia soundtrack on repeat for about five days. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ please excuse my bastardization of greek mythology, Mamma Mia, and NBC's Timeless

Lucy Preston didn’t believe in fairytales - but, if she  _ had  _ to admit, she’d say growing up on the small island of Kronosous was pretty close. The island, lush and picturesque, had been her playground and safe haven ever since her moms, Denise and Michelle, brought her there after adopting her. Lucy, eight years old and excited to  _ finally  _ have a home, spent the entire plane ride reading the brilliantly illustrated picture book Denise had given her about her new home -  _ History and Mythos: Kronosous _ . 

One myth had stuck out to her in particular - the myth of Kronos’ well. Her book read that there lay a hidden well, in a secret cave called Tyche, somewhere deep on the island - one that only the titan Kronos knew the location of. That well was said to have magical water, and when Kronos drank from it he gained his lordship over time. It’s said that if a person were to drink from the well, time would bend so that happy moments in their life might never end. 

That seemed like a grand idea to Lucy. Time making it so a happy day would never seem to end? She desperately wanted that, if only so she might be able to forever feel the way she did when Denise and Michelle told her they were adopting her. 

Lucy spent the first few years of her childhood on Kronosous playing Indiana Jones, hunting down the cave of Tyche and Kronos’ well. While she never found Tyche, she did find a beautiful stream that carved its way through the island, one that was perfect to stick her feet in and read by. Kronosous became home, just as naturally as Denise and Michelle became her mothers.

Now, nearly twenty years later, Lucy doesn’t really reach for  _ History and Mythos  _ often. With doctorates in history and anthropology, specializing in the traditions and cultures of the island chain that she had grown up on, Lucy tends to prefer more scholarly sources.

She does, however, keep that copy of  _ History and Mythos  _ on her bookshelf in her office, right by her squashy green armchair. That copy, dog-eared and bedraggled with age, with tape holding together the spine from constant reading, is among Lucy’s most precious possessions. Not because the book is factually correct (she’d debunked a few of its claims herself, in grad school), or because the the pictures are so stunning, but because of what’s written inside the cover - “ _ Lucy, we hope this book can help explain Kronosous to you. We hope, even more than that, that you love Kronosous as much as we do. We’re so happy you’re joining our family. Love, Your Moms, Denise and Michelle.”   _

Kronosous, Lucy has to admit, is a place where fairytales come to life. Where a girl can find a family, a home, and a dream.

* * *

 

She wakes up to the smell of coffee - the good stuff, the kind Michelle makes with her fancy French press, not that instant sludge Denise drinks because she’s too impatient to wait for her coffee to brew in the morning. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Lucy slides on her flip flops and heads into the kitchen, blearily accepting a coffee from Michelle with a grateful thanks. 

Lucy’s halfway through the morning paper when Michelle asks, “What time is Noah coming over to help decorate?”

Lucy groans, “I’m not quite sure, Mom - I got caught up reading this paper on Athens last night and I forgot to ask him.”

“Lucy, the wedding is in three days. You really should be more organized than this,” Michelle gently chastises. 

“I know, I know,” concedes Lucy, “and I know it’s special, but I don’t really get all the big fuss over this. It’s just a wedding.”

“Your mother and I love you, and you love Noah, so we want to make this day special for you, even if it all seems silly now,” Michelle says, snagging the paper from Lucy, “Your mother and I couldn’t get married when we first got together, so maybe it’s also us living our wedding dreams through you.”

“Well maybe you two should just get married on Saturday instead of me and Noah,” teases Lucy, “and save me some of the fuss! I have two dress fittings before the wedding, as if I’m suddenly going to gain ten pounds after the first one!”

Michelle laughs, and pulls Lucy into a hug, “Oh, my baby girl! I’m going to miss you so much!”

“Noah and I are moving two streets over, mom.”

“Practically a different time zone! At least Rufus still lives close by.” Michelle joked, referring to Lucy’s adoptive brother, who had moved into a townhouse one street over with some roommates. 

* * *

 

So, here’s the thing. Lucy’s always known she was adopted - how could she not? She spent the first seven years of her life being shuffled around different foster homes. Since she came to live with Denise and Michelle, she’s never felt like she was missing any parental figures in her life. Lucy had never felt compelled to try and find her birth parents, and she never asked. 

Noah had asked her, when they first started dating. Wouldn’t she like to try to find her birth parents? Wasn’t she curious? Didn’t she want to know who she was? 

Lucy had thought about telling him how she really felt - that if her birth parents didn’t care enough to stick around to see her grow up, why should she care enough to try to find them, but when she said things like that people would tended to say things like, “well, how do you  _ know  _ they didn’t care?” And so, Lucy had shrugged and changed the subject. 

When Noah had tried to press the subject, Lucy had tersely said, “I don’t even know their names, Noah. Drop it.” And he had. 

A few months before the wedding, though, Lucy had been digging through some boxes of old paperwork, looking for her birth certificate for some government form or another. She had found her adoption papers. 

And listed there, capitalized, as if to underscore the importance of these words, were the names of her biological parents. CAROL PRESTON and BENJAMIN CAHILL. She almost had to laugh - all this time, she had just assumed the state had given her the last name Preston, but it turns out it came from her biological mother.

Lucy knew she had been born in San Francisco, and quick Google search for CAROL PRESTON and BENJAMIN CAHILL gave her two addresses, relatively close to each other in the suburbs of San Fran. 

Without much thought, she had sent them both wedding invitations, with a brief letter explaining who she was. She didn’t think they’d actually  _ come _ \- they’d given her up at birth, for heaven’s sake!

And so, when she got back two RSVP’s from San Francisco, Lucy knew she was in some major trouble. 

Especially considering she still hadn’t told anyone, even her fiance, Noah. 


End file.
